


The More Things Change

by tzigane, Yoiko



Series: The Babysitter [2]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Trowa Barton, But Only If He's Sure You Won't Take It Seriously, Duo Maxwell Is A Flirt, Duo Maxwell is Chaos Personified, Duo’s Bathing Suit Wins, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Heero Yuy and Chang Wufei Are Best Friends, Ladies' Man Quatre Raberba Winner, M/M, Multi, Pool Party, Quatre Is Dating The Entire Senior Cheer Squad, Relena Peacecraft and Dorothy Catalona Are Dating One Another, Super Soaker, Treize Khushrenada's Dream of Being An Interior Designer Came True, Tzigane Says There's No Such Thing As Too Much Baseball, Wishes Is A Good Dog, Wufei is WHAT!? Productions, Yoiko Says There's Too Much Baseball, all grown up, water wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:01:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23331301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tzigane/pseuds/tzigane, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoiko/pseuds/Yoiko
Summary: Thomas Wolfe had said, "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame."Of course, he had also said quite a bit more after that. Treize Khushrenada felt that was enough to express adequately the absolute truth of things -- it really was impossible to go home again because time passed and everything changed. Nothing was ever as it was, and it had been so long since he'd had the opportunity to visit his mother that everything was different. The gas store on the corner had turned into a coffee shop. The local grocer's had disappeared altogether, leaving behind a parking lot for a chain store and just a touch of melancholy mixed in with Treize’s sense of nostalgia.
Relationships: Chang Wufei/Treize Khushrenada, Dorothy Catalonia/Relena Peacecraft, Dorothy Catalonia/Relena Peacecraft/Quatre Raberba Winner, Zechs Merquise/Heero Yuy
Series: The Babysitter [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677670
Comments: 11
Kudos: 9





	The More Things Change

Thomas Wolfe had said, "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame."

Of course, he had also said quite a bit more after that. Treize Khushrenada felt that was enough to express adequately the absolute truth of things -- it really was impossible to go home again because time passed and everything changed. Nothing was ever as it was, and it had been so long since he'd had the opportunity to visit his mother that everything was different. The gas store on the corner had turned into a coffee shop. The local grocer's had disappeared altogether, leaving behind a parking lot for a chain store and just a touch of melancholy mixed in with Treize’s sense of nostalgia.

His aunt Belinda and cousin Dorothy had made themselves quite at home with Treize's mother, a fact that made him grateful. He had been extraordinarily busy with apprenticeships, learning the tools of his chosen trade so that he could bring his dream to fruition, and he finally had. Two years ago, he had opened his own interior design firm in Milan. Every waking hour had been utterly devoted to making his business successful, so much so that taking a week to return to the states and visit with his mother had been unthinkable. Thank goodness for technology -- without it, he would have felt the worst sort of son imaginable. Instead he visited with his mother on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, keeping up with neighborhood gossip and family scandals alike.

Perhaps that should have been neighborhood scandals and family gossip, actually, considering that some of the neighbors had only become more themselves over the years.

The Yuy family still lived in the same house on the same street near the Changs, all of them happily settled into their lives and activities. His mother had told him that Heero and Wufei both played baseball, and everyone was ecstatic when their team made it all the way to the Big League World Series. He had watched them climb their way through the brackets with never-ending amusement. Never a game passed that didn't end with Heero as the filthiest pitcher anyone could ever have imagined. The only time Wufei's uniform got dirty, he clearly held a grudge and made the other team's poor shortstop suffer for the entirety of the game's remainder.

Some things never changed.

The Maxwells, on the other hand, were the epitome of change. Treize had still been apprenticed in Paris when his mother had called to advise that there had been A Schism in the local SCA community. It had caused quite the stir; Mrs. Khushrenada had been tearful on the day that they moved to a new fiefdom. It would seem that someone had objected mightily to Duo's ridiculous hair, demanding that it be cut if he were to be accurately believed in some historic context or another. Whatever the issue, they had settled in quite happily according to Treize's mother. Mr. Maxwell's new job had paid much better than the old one, so much so that Mrs. Maxwell hadn't needed a job. Instead she sold homemade items online -- period appropriate frippery right down to the skivvies, and she used Duo as a model when taking photos. The amusing thing was the note at the bottom: _"Sorry, my son is sold separately"_ , followed by a link to a page with Duo waving that was always sold out.

See above: Some Things Never Changed.

Trowa's family was still as quiet as ever, or so Treize heard. His older sister had been a gymnast of some renown, and Trowa had followed in her steps. He was going to Nationals this year according to rumor, and Treize sincerely hoped that went well for him. Perhaps he would even learn something more about it since he would be home. Sometimes it was necessary to ask the right questions in the right manner to yield better information. Mrs. Khushrenada, bless her soul, felt that rephrasing the question repeatedly was the best way to get an answer when she wanted it. Treize could promise otherwise from experience.

Unsurprisingly, Treize had learned that Quatre was a member of the cheerleading team along with Relena and Treize's cousin Dorothy. Aunt Belinda said they were quite good, which translated in Aunt Belinda-speak to phenomenal. Of course, he had also heard that Quatre's father continued to bemoan the lack of manliness instilled in his son, but what else could one expect when he had so many sisters? It certainly didn't seem a detrimental situation to Treize. After all, Quatre had never been precisely the paragon of manliness Mr. Winner attempted to foster. Ah, well. Perhaps one day, Mr. Winner would grow to accept things as they were.

That left only Mirialdo, and the warmth of that thought brought a smile to Treize's face. Mirialdo had graduated from college and had been accepted to veterinary school recently. Wishes was still alive, if old, and rumor had it that raising a happy, healthy dog had been the start of Mirialdo's professional choices.

Everything taken into consideration, he felt overwhelming pride in every one of the children he used to babysit. Who wouldn't, after all? They had become more or less well-adjusted human beings who worked hard to reach their goals. What more could a retired babysitter want? Except perhaps for a nap following a long flight. That was certainly part of his plan at this point. He had wanted to attend the last baseball game of the season, but Treize was fairly certain that he wasn't going to manage it after all. Ah, well. School was officially out and the entire neighborhood would be having a party the following afternoon.

He would just have to be patient and see everyone then.

~*~*~*~

"Slide, Wufei, slide!"

It was, of course, a ridiculous thing to say to Chang Wufei, but with the Trojans down by two and the bases loaded, Heero had gotten carried away in the moment. Wufei did not slide, but he did barrel into the opposing catcher with such force that the ball flew out of the boy's hand, glove and all. Wufei tapped home base and jogged back to the dugout, nodding in acknowledgment of the crowd's cheers. He stopped to give his pitcher a sardonic little smirk.

"Tell me I didn't just hear that, Yuy," he sniffed, brushing imaginary dust off of his immaculate uniform. "You of all people should know better."

"Hear what?" For all that he'd been associating with Quatre Raberba Winner and Relena Peacecraft since kindergarten, Heero had never mastered the wide-eyed innocent look those two used so effortlessly. He had to settle for a deadpan expression which in all honesty had never fooled anyone, least of all Wufei.

A disdainful sniff was the only answer to that question even as Wufei eyed the bench and reached down for his kit. It only took a moment before he had the brush he used to clean home plate, flicking it in quick motions to clean off the sand. "Slide. Ha."

The game had been tough, but things were looking up. One run behind still gave them a fair chance at catching up, especially with Conner coming up to bat. Their third basemen had a wide streak of pure luck that tended to make opposing pitchers twitchy. Not Heero, but then, he was on their side.

Heero paused, watching as Conner's first swing missed the ball by a large margin. The opposing team's pitcher was starting to look less nervous. "You didn't just hear that," he replied at last. 

Wufei's dark eyes glittered for a moment, and then he sat down delicately on the bench. He'd never quite lost that love of white or of keeping it white. He was always cranky when they played away games. Heero had never really understood why the blue away uniforms offended him so much. "Ha," he repeated, and then smirked, eyes darting to the opposing pitcher. "Center field. Over the wall. Third pitch."

"If he doesn't take the pitcher's head off," Heero agreed. It had been a huge controversy in the Yuy household when Heero's mother had first announced that he couldn't have a chemistry set -- not even one for kids -- unless he agreed to join the local Little League team and attend every game and practice. Ultimately Mr. Yuy had taken her side of it, stating that if that was the only way to get Heero outside for fresh air and exercise, so be it. Heero had been beside himself at the time, and his only consolation was that his best friend had agreed to join with him as long as the uniforms were white. 

Twelve years later, Heero had to admit that he had grown to love the game. He was still grateful for his friend's presence, and not just because Wufei happened to be a phenomenal catcher. It just wouldn't be the same without Wufei.

The crack of bat meeting ball sounded louder than a gunshot as it sailed high and hard out between center and left field. Both of the other team's fielders ran after it, but it was too late. That ball was so far gone, they'd be lucky to catch sight of it again at all. It was probably going to land in the briar patch that bumped up against the lake behind the ball field.

Wufei grunted with pleasure even though the rest of the team was going wild. "Good hit."

Heero's reaction was slightly less restrained; he was grinning widely as the ball sailed out of sight and Conner started a leisurely jog around the bases. 

"Perfect," he replied. "But that was only his second swing."

Wufei's expression scrunched up for a moment, gaze narrowing hard on Heero. "I plan to take him to task for making me appear to be wrong."

"Don't be too hard on him," Heero said. "We don't want to give him the idea that hitting a homer is a _bad_ thing." Without bothering to dust off the bench, Heero sat down beside his friend. "You're coming to the swim party tomorrow, right?" he asked. He was referring to the graduation celebration Quatre's parents had planned, a poolside cook-out. Throughout the years, Heero's parents had maintained close friendships with their neighbors and it wasn't that uncommon for the families to gather for barbecues or movie nights or the annual Khushrenada Halloween party. This was special, though. It wouldn't just be Heero and the people he'd grown up with. For this particular get-together, they'd have a special guest who had been away for a while. Two of them, in fact.

"I hear Mr. Treize might be there," he stated casually, facing forward as Conner tapped home base. Heero was watching Wufei out of the corner of his eye. He could see his spine straighten, almond eyes going just a little round as if in surprise or pleasure or maybe it was both. He didn't have to say anything -- there was a reason they were best friends and it was because some things never needed to be acknowledged aloud for one of them to know what the other was thinking.

When Wufei replied, it was quiet and intense. "Oh." He darted a glance at Heero and then leaned back against the chain link fence of the dugout. "And I hear Miri will be coming, as well."

Heero's eyes flicked to Wufei and then back. "That's what Relena said," he replied. "According to Quatre, Miri got home around midnight last night. Wishes was so excited that he wet himself."

"And Quatre would know."

Mr. Winner had spent most of their childhood bemoaning the adoration his son felt for all things feminine. When Quatre had decided to take up cheerleading, Heero vaguely remembered something about a sheer nervous collapse. The funny thing was that there hadn't been any need for all of that worry -- Quatre was dating most of the cheerleading squad and they were all happy to share him. It was kind of warped, and the weirdest thing about it was that Quatre's father was still convinced his son was gay. Heero's own father, aside from giving him a very uncomfortable talk about using proper protection if he decided to conduct any personal scientific experimentation on the subject, hadn't seemed to care one way or the other which team Heero played on.

"Just be healthy and happy, son," he had told him. "That's all your mother and I ever wanted. Look on it like a mission."

And Heero had.

Of course, some of his friends were more interested in helping him out on that mission than others. Wufei had scrunched his nose up and given him a funny quirk of eyebrow that Heero had immediately interpreted correctly as _we are clearly not one another's type_ when they had the discussion on sexual attraction. Heero had replied with a twitch of his mouth that said _thank goodness you understand_.

Duo, on the other hand...

"It's a good thing," Heero said, watching as Greg stepped up to bat. "I didn't want to have to ask Relena about it."

"Hn," Wufei snorted. "Or you could have checked your email."

Heero rubbed his nose in a self-conscious gesture. "I'm... on computer restriction," he admitted, embarrassed. "I can only use it for writing essays." 

The whole team was lined up at the front of the dugout yelling. "Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Sanders!"

"I refuse to ask why. BALL!" Wufei yelled, shooting up from the bench, dark brows drawing together thunderously. "ARE YOU BLIND?"

Heero rose as well, scowling and treating the umpire to a classic Yuy Glare of Icy Doom. He was relieved he wouldn't have to explain; it was embarrassing enough to have had his mother catch him laughing over the result of a google search. It wasn't like he'd really expected _that_ when he googled _santorum_.

"C'mon! C'mon, Greg, you can do it!" Conner was clenching a fist in the chain link, and one of the guys further down was cursing so virulently it was a miracle the air wasn't blue.

"Strike two!"

He could nearly hear Wufei's teeth grind as his friend stepped closer. "I distinctly dislike the Rangers. They're poor sportsmen, and altogether too happy in orange."

"Kind of makes you feel better about ours," Heero murmured, distracted. "Blue away uniforms have to be better than orange." He didn't outwardly show agitation as the umpire made his second unfavorable call, but he was watching the game intently. 

The word Wufei growled under his breath was distinctly foul. He turned his head and spat out of the dugout. "At least there is that." Red and yellow were high on Wufei's list of dislikes ever since the playsuit incidents when they were kids, and orange was an unholy mixture of both. The sudden crack of the bat sounded loud and clear in the air and Conner yelled loudly at the other end of the dugout.

Heero's eyes widened as the Rangers recovered the ball quickly. Greg had already rounded first by the time the ball made it there and was running madly for second base. 

"Slide, Sanders, SLIDE!" Heero bellowed. Unlike Wufei, Greg slid and made it to second just under the baseman's reach.

"Hmph." That sound was distinctly satisfied. "He's filthy." Knowing Wufei, he'd demand that Sanders give over those pants for bleaching before they'd even finished the game. The Trojans had the whitest game pants of any team in the AAAA region.

"Filthy but safe," Heero noted with a pleased little smirk. 

"Now if only Izuku will do his job, we'll be able to beat them into the ground." Wufei sounded deeply satisfied by that. Izuku wasn't the fastest of them, but he had a lot of upper body strength. There was a reason he batted cleanup. All they needed was for Greg to make it home.

"It's in the bag," Heero predicted. He couldn't help but snicker as their cleanup batter stepped up to the plate full of false bravado, pointed off in the distance in an imitation of Babe Ruth, and settled into place to bat. Lack of confidence or not, apparently Izuku had taken the coach's advice to heart and decided to try to psych out the opponent. 

The first pitch was foreseeable -- high and on the inside, sending Izuku diving back from the plate. The third base coach seemed to agree with Wufei because he uttered the same filthy word, although not nearly loud enough to be heard at home plate. Boos filtered in loudly from the stands.

"Strike!"

"That was distinctly uncalled for." The pinched look of Wufei's mouth was probably echoed on Heero's. He only grunted in reply as Izuku got up, dusted off his rear end, and took up his batting stance again.

The next pitch was a curve ball, dipping down as it approached the plate. Izuku came up under it and popped the ball foul and into the stands off of third base, nearly hitting Chang Wynn and Heero's mom. Luckily, Mr. Yuy was sitting behind them and put his hand out at the appropriate moment to catch the ball.

Heero sighed. "That was close."

Nodding, Wufei stepped closer to the chain link. "One more strike."

At the plate, Izuku stepped up and gestured with his bat again, giving the opposing pitcher a bright grin. It didn't seem to sit well because the guy ruffled up as if he had feathers and the catcher started making frantic signs. No, no, no, and yes, and...

"Bet it's a fast ball." Wufei seemed pleased.

Heero nodded. "That'll be..."

_**CRACK!** _

One hell of a mistake, as it turned out. It didn't go as far as Conner's, but it flew over the center fielder's head and rolled for the fence. Izuku wasn't all that fast, but Greg was coming around third like his head was on fire and his ass was catching. The yelling in the dugout bounced off of concrete and the low roof, all of them praying he'd make it home before the ball came in from the outfield. Izuku slid hard into second base just as the center fielder threw it to the second baseman, and it went wild over his head, nearly knocking the pitcher in the shin. Whooping wildly, Greg landed on home base with a single cleated foot before turning around to fling both arms in the air in victory.

Last game of the season: won.

Ninmu kanryo.

~*~*~*~

"I just don't understand." Mr. Winner sounded befuddled and not a little sad. "I did my best. Gave him action figures and, and manly games." He poked at a big of chips. Mrs. Winner put a large plastic bowl in front of him before handing him the bag. He tore it open, a few chips spilling out of it. "And instead he takes up cheerleading! _Cheerleading_!"

"It's a sport like any other, dear," Mrs. Winner explained, rolling her eyes. "Just like when Lucy took up wrestling."

"But _cheerleading_!" That seemed to say it all. "You understand, don't you, Wynn?"

Chang Wynn looked up from the white whipped icing he was spreading over the cake and blinked. "Erm..."

"Your boy's all boy! Baseball, swim team, martial arts! Where did I go wrong?" His head thumped down on the table.

Wynn shrugged at Mrs. Winner and gave her a little smile. It wasn't an unfamiliar question, even if most of the other parents didn't get the obsession with manliness. "I think I'll go see if Lei is finished with those decorations."

Outside, Relena Peacecraft stretched out on a poolside lounge, her bikini a froth of coral pink around her upper arms, string in a bow at the back of her neck. Her favorite part of it was the corset tying that made her boobs look, quite frankly, fabulous.

"Well, Miss Relena. You're looking utterly edible today."

Ah, Dorothy. Hm, well, their last date had been a delight, she had to admit. Then again, orgies usually were in her opinion. Relena was fairly certain her parents would both die of horror if they knew what actually happened at cheerleading retreats. "Love the swimsuit, Dotty. What there is of it."

Dorothy did a pirouette, showing off the golden rings at both hips, between her breasts, and on the sides beneath both arms as well. Relena wasn't sure how nothing fell out of it. It was impressive. "I had help choosing it. Would you like some company? At least until Quatre arrives." Because that always made a party perk right up, at least in the cheer squad's opinion. "I hear your brother's home."

Honestly, the neighborhood gossip network did seem ridiculously efficient. "Mmm, he'll be coming over later," Relena advised, shifting to the left. "Want to share? There should be plenty of pretty things to look at shortly."

There were, of course, hard and fast rules for anyone who wanted to be a part of Quatre's harem. Relena would never have expected any less from someone with as many sisters as he had. She was pretty sure that Lucy would cut short her current tour with the WWE just to come home and kick her baby brother in the rear end if she thought anyone was less than safe, sane, and consensual, with every participant being of age. Nobody wanted Lucy coming home; she was scary even before she took up pro wrestling as a way of life.

"As if I would object to sharing with you." Dorothy nudged her and she slid against Relena's left side as if another lounge weren't less than a foot away from the one they were now sharing.

"I have arrived! The party can start!" That was immediately followed by a blur of stripes and a yell. "CANNONBALL!"

"Saw him coming," Chang Wynn said mildly from several feet away, cake held in his hands. He was just outside of the splash radius, unlike Dorothy and Relena.

She was going to kill him.

She was going to strangle him with his own ridiculously long braid and then she was going to hide his body beneath the rose bushes in the back yard. "Duoooooooooooo!"

He was in the middle of the deep end, swimming in something that looked like it belonged in a photo from the late nineteenth century, a classic swimming outfit that covered him from neck to elbows to knees in horizontal stripes. His hair was a sopping coil floating behind him, and his face said that he knew exactly what he had done. "Hey, Relena! It's been a while. You're looking kind of, uhhhh..."

The rose bushes in the back yard were too good for him.

"What," Dorothy asked from beside her, one brow quirked, if damp, "are you wearing?"

"Awesome, right?" Ugh. They needed a poolside sign -- no Duo Maxwells allowed. "Mom's branching out into Victorian stuff. She got tired of fifteenth century Italian."

"I am going to strangle you in your sleep," Relena finally hissed, reaching up to twist some of the water out of her hair. "Honestly, you never change."

"I've gotta be me," Duo replied, the grin on his face stretching to epic proportions. "Looks like everybody else is running a little behind."

"Is that your way of asking where Heero is?" Relena's eyes narrowed. It wasn't as if they were still fighting over who got to marry him and wash his underpants anymore, but by now it was purely habit. A flash of white caught her eye and she turned to find Chang Wufei beside her wearing a pair of short white swim trunks that certainly showed off every lean muscle and a few other things beside that. They were perfectly decent, of course, but she hadn't been wrong when she had advised Dorothy they would have plenty of eye candy soon.

Wufei settled on the side of the pool, reaching up and tugging the elastic out of his hair so that it spilled loose around his shoulders. "He's still at home trying to decide which suit to wear."

"Awww, he wants to impress me," Duo cooed, swimming over to fold both arms on the side of the pool close to Wufei. He promptly found himself pushed over, the clear implication that he was too close undeniable.

"Not exactly," Heero told them as he joined the little group clad in a simple streamlined black suit that covered him from his waist to just above the knees. "I was looking for this thing." With that, he pulled a SuperSoaker from behind his back and handed it to Relena, who accepted it with a malicious grin. 

Duo barely had a chance to react; violet eyes went comically wide just before Relena unleashed a blast of watery revenge, and Duo went under, spluttering. 

"I do think he was impressed, though," Heero said, with a quirky little half-smile. Wufei's tilted smirk was as good as hysterical laughter from someone else.

Duo surfaced with a splutter, reaching up to rake a hand through sopping wet bangs. "Dude!" he protested. "No fair!"

"Nice suit." Heero smirked. 

"Oh, hey, everyone's here!" Quatre's voice was a sunny high tenor as he skipped forward, pink swim trunks showing an adorable penguin on the leg. They were tight and clung in places that would probably give his father a nervous breakdown.

Waving one hand, Dorothy leaned forward, eyes raking over him and appreciating Trowa as he walked up behind Quatre. His suit was drab olive green with an octopus in white showing on the cargo pocket and it was accompanied by a tank top in white. "Nice to see you boys present and accounted for," she drawled, winking at them both. Trowa raised a hand in greeting before settling to squat to the left of Wufei.

"You ladies look absolutely stunning." Quatre's eyes met theirs and then darted down, lingering on Relena's breasts before settling for a long moment at the curve of Dorothy's waist.

"We know," Dorothy assured him, confident. "We had help choosing our suits." She waved a hand at Trowa in acknowledgment. Everyone knew who was best at giving fashion advice.

"Hey, guys!" Duo swam close to Trowa, folding his arms against the edge of the pool. Unlike Wufei, Trowa didn't push him further down the way. "Heero brought the gun!"

"Oh, are we playing the game?" Quatre asked, looking pleased. 

"Either that or using it for behavior modification on Duo," Relena murmured, arching her back just a little as Quatre looked her over once more.

"I was thinking it would be fun to do the game," Heero suggested. "If everyone wants to. For old times' sake."

"I'm game," Trowa answered, his voice surprisingly deep.

Dorothy was already reaching for Relena's phone. "I'll get video up and running."

"Yes!" Duo cheered, pulling himself up using the edge of the pool. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

Heero led the way to the diving board, which really wasn't all that high above the water but had seemed almost insurmountable when they'd been little. The game, _Target Practice_ , had been invented on the spur of the moment when they were nine years old and Quatre had been afraid to swim in the deep end of the pool, a source of contention between the youngest Winner and his father. 

The object of the game was to get from the back of the board into the water without being hit by Relena’s squirt gun. It had really been a stroke of genius on Heero's part because it was a fun game that helped Quatre overcome his fear and also kept Relena and her _girl cooties_ at a distance. It was an integral part of their summertime memories along with the smell of sunblock and barbecue, riding bikes in the afternoon, and chasing fireflies as the day faded from dusk to evening. 

Heero climbed to the diving board and waited, ready, while Relena checked that the SuperSoaker was loaded and then aimed it at him with a wicked grin. The game would start when Relena called it. 

"Ready... GO!" 

Heero launched forward, dodging blasts of water and hurling himself into the safety of the pool with a series of contortions that made him almost impossible to tag -- partly because he was a fast moving target and partly because Relena couldn't aim straight when she was laughing too hard. When he surfaced, all of his friends were laughing hysterically, and he grinned. It never failed. 

"Ninmu kanryo," he called, just loudly and smugly enough to set them off further.

"I'm next," Wufei declared, glancing around quickly to be sure that no one could see whatever ridiculous thing he was planning to do in order to avoid getting hit. Just in case.

"Nope," Duo advised happily enough. "You know the rules, dude. It's one, two, three, four, five." 

It was impossible to argue against the arbitrary number system they'd set up as children, so Wufei just scowled and muttered under his breath. Heero was pretty sure that he knew all of the best curse words in multiple languages at this point in his life, and he was also pretty sure that was one of the more creative suggestions he'd ever heard about what someone might do with their father-in-law's camel. Either way, Duo just grinned at Wufei and wiggled his eyebrows before taking his stance and running like hell off of the diving board. As always, Duo was shot several times mid-execution of his flawless cannonball, and they had to pause the game for Relena, now fairly well soaked despite not having actually been in the pool yet, to reload the SuperSoaker and target Trowa. 

Trowa, naturally, performed a reverse 21/2 somersault dive with 21/2 twists, a dive he had spent an entire year perfecting after seeing it in the Summer Olympics. Relena wasn't able to tag him, so she just clapped for him along with the others. 

Quatre's first turn in the game started with the traditional _crawling out onto the board_ maneuver despite the fact that he hadn't been afraid to dive or swim for years. Once there, he stood, waved in acknowledgment of his friends' cheering, then dove. Technically the dive should have been a bellyflop followed by the classic dead man's float, but instead he dove off gracefully enough and landed in the water cleanly.

By tradition, Relena should have shot him in the back all the way along the diving board. There were perks to dating, apparently, because she mostly just aimed at his thighs for the delight of seeing him wet before he dove.

Huffing a breath, Wufei glanced around as if to be sure that no one else might be watching. When Relena had reloaded, he climbed the ladder and looked over at her, scowling. "All right, woman."

She nodded. "I'm ready."

With a sharp grin, he threw up both arms and promptly cartwheeled his way along the board. For some reason, his nine year old self had thought that would make him very difficult to hit.

It did not.

By the time he made the last cartwheel and flew off feet first, Relena had managed to hit him multiple times.

After the first round, they each ran through twice more, this time doing whatever diving style suited them. Relena's aim had improved over the years, so ultimately none of them escaped unscathed. 

"Time for the instant replay!" Dorothy called, and the group gathered around to watch the video on her phone. It was Heero's first time seeing what his multidirectional-flailing bullet-dodging dive looked like, and it made him laugh so hard he couldn't breathe or make a sound. He sagged backward into one of the lawn chairs, wheezing, his hands over his face. 

"Dude," Duo said, putting a hand on his shoulder in concern. "Are you okay?"

Heero sat up; his face was red and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. "That's the worst!" he howled, and then broke down laughing again. The fact that he sounded manic and a little insane seemed to set off all of them until they were all laughing, ranging from high-pitched giggles (Quatre) to outright bellows (Relena) to clamping one hand over the mouth and convulsing in a full-body shake (Wufei).

"The best part of all of this," Duo sighed, mouth quirking upwards with delight, flopping backwards onto the nearest patch of ridiculously perfect green grass, "is that I move two counties over and every time I come back, you're all here and just like I remember."

Trowa quirked one thin eyebrow. "Amazing and funny?"

That grin was almost as bright as the sunshine. "Completely nuts and totally the greatest humans I've managed to collect in my short lifetime."

"We're lucky," Heero agreed, and leaned back in the lounge chair. His sides ached from laughing so hard and he drew a long, shaky breath, trying to suppress the urge to laugh again. All of these years, the mental image he'd held of dodging bullets in mid-air had been so _cool_. He was almost sorry that he knew the reality now. Not that this new knowledge was going to stop him from doing it. Being able to make his friends just about piss themselves laughing was kind of a superpower, really. 

He was just turning toward Duo to add to his comment when he was met with a face full of dog tongue. "Wishes!" he sputtered, trying to hold off a frantically happy golden Labrador who had half-climbed on top of him and seemed determined to drown him with slobber. The dog's tail was wagging frantically back and forth, and he could hear Quatre splutter from the way it was smacking him in the face.

"Be careful how you pet him," Miri's deep voice advised. "Especially if you rub his belly."

"Why's that?" Duo grinned up at the man casting his shadow across all of them. "Is he like Lady Gwendolyn got to be towards the end?"

Wufei snorted. "If she peed when you were petting the belly, then yes."

Miri laughed and settled down in the same chaise as Heero, eyes watching as Heero ruffled the dog's ears gently to try and get him to calm down. "It happens," he advised, mouth a small satisfied curve.

"Good to see you." Heero smiled, giving Wishes some well-deserved ear scritches. "And Miri, too."

"Ha. Ha," Miri drawled. Heero gave him a little quirk of a smile, but it was an excuse to take in the sight of him in his swimsuit, a modest pair of shorts in a shade of blue that very nearly matched his eyes. Time had been good to Mirialdo Peacecraft, and the sullen boy had grown into a stunningly beautiful young man.

"So," Miri was saying, "no sign of Treize yet?" Heero's heart sunk a little, and he saw Wufei give him a sympathetic glance out of the corner of his eye. Of course Miri would want to see Treize. He'd had an obvious crush on the babysitter for years. 

Duo, bless him, rolled with the conversation oblivious to any such undercurrent. "Is it just me or does anyone else feel weird leaving off the Mister?"

"No," Wufei drawled, leaning his head back to look at Duo. "I do not."

"Totally," Relena sighed. "But hey, at least now he can't make us stick our noses in the corner."

Laughing, Quatre reached into the pool to splash water towards Trowa, gently sprinkling water over his shins and thighs. "I don't know, I'd probably still go and put my nose in the corner if he told me to do it. How about you?"

His friend seemed to consider the matter, brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Most likely. Especially if he gave me that _look_ , you know the one."

"Like this," Heero replied, and brushed his hair back with one hand, frowned, and raised one twitching eyebrow in a reasonably good impression of the Mister Treize Glare. 

Miri slapped a hand over his eyes. "Please stop," he laughed. "That is completely unsettling."

Dorothy was laughing as well, one hand trailing along Relena's thigh. "I can't imagine finding Treize intimidating," she drawled. 

"If you'd ever been on the wrong side of him, you wouldn't have any trouble imagining it," Heero assured her. "Do you guys want to swim some more?"

"I'm in," Duo answered. His bathing suit was comfortable dry and not bad to swim in, but it clung and bunched once he left the water. 

Heero gave Wishes a last fond pat, told him not to worry, and climbed into the pool. When Wishes was still a young dog, he had leaped in after a young Mirialdo to rescue him from drowning. Even though Miri had been fine and the efforts of Wishes had been more dangerous than the water, the heroic impulse had won him Heero's eternal affection.

Wishes seemed to take that as permission to settle between Relena and Quatre on the warm stone surrounding the pool to keep them company as they continued to sunbathe while the rest of the boys, Miri included, slipped into the pool to have fun for a little while longer.

~*~*~*~

Sleeping in one's childhood bed was, in Treize's opinion, simultaneously strange and heartwarmingly nostalgic. Mostly, he had to admit, the former, as he'd become accustomed to having a significantly larger bed since then.

Jet lag being what it was, he had done his best to remain awake until at least nine after a hellaciously long day. He'd barely managed to last. Once he'd crawled into his rather small childhood bed, Treize had passed out cold. He'd awakened stupidly early, promptly rolled over, nearly fallen out of bed, and then gone back to sleep.

Breakfast with his mother and Aunt Belinda had been simultaneously delightful and utterly horrifying. He now knew more about his cousin, her girlfriend, their boyfriend, and the entire graduating high school cheer squad than anyone who considered themselves to be a remotely reasonable human being could possibly want to know.

Frankly, it was a little traumatic.

Still, it had given him an excellent excuse to head back to his room, get a shower, and get dressed for the party later in the afternoon. All of the kids he'd spent his teen years babysitting were adults now, and it would be so exciting to see all of them.

By the time he made his way down the street to the Winner household, he could tell that the party was well started. The smell of cooking meat was accompanied by the sound of splashing water and laughter, and Treize couldn't help the way it made him smile or the extra little spring to his step as he headed to the front door and knocked politely.

"Treize Khushrenada, how you've grown!" Mrs. Winner exclaimed as she opened the door. "Do come in, dear. The kids are all at the pool, but I know they'll be so excited to see you again."

Some of the parents crowded around, and there was a lot of shaking hands and pats on the shoulder. Treize was a little surprised to realize how much had changed. He was being greeted as more of an equal, now, and he'd grown enough to be one of the tallest people in the room. It was strange to see the adults in his life from this different perspective. Mr. Yuy, who was still an intimidating person, was actually just average height, and Treize could even look tall Mr. Winner eye to eye. The ladies, oddly enough, had remained more accurately recalled in his mental image. 

"Treize!" A familiar voice came from behind him. "Lei, look how tall he's grown!" Treize turned, and laid eyes in Chang Wynn for the first time in years and...

No Sproing. Thank God! Treize's father had assured him he'd grow out of that awkward phase, and he was so glad it had finally happened.

The overwhelming relief of that left Treize almost giddy. It made meeting everyone again feel even better, and he couldn't help enjoying himself as he was carefully passed from person to person through the crowd of adults, each one equally delighted to see him. Perhaps, he thought, it was possible to go back home after all.

"The kids are out on the loggia," Mrs. Maxwell told him, one hand gesturing towards the enclosed pool area, the other one popping a chip into her mouth. "Dun's out there starting the grill, I'm sure you remember how he is about that."

Ah, yes. Mr. Maxwell had been quite passionate about the joys of charred meat. Treize recalled finding it a bit disconcerting, to say the least, but he was excited to see his kids again, so he took the ham-and-cheese wrapped pickle pinwheel Mrs. Maxwell handed him, popped it into his mouth, tossed the toothpick into the can by the kitchen door, and strolled out onto the stones of the loggia.

"Hey, it's Mr. Treize!"

That yell automatically caught Treize's attention. His head turned towards the voice, looking to see who had noticed his arrival. His gaze snagged, instead, on the young man pulling himself out of the pool, hair wet and dripping down the nape of his neck. He felt his mouth go dry at the sight of warm caramel skin, amazingly strong arms, a wide defined chest, ridiculously small tight white swim shorts, and...

**_*SPROING!*_ **

Oh.

Oh dear god.

"Hey, Mr. Treize!" Duo was still Duo -- hair, anachronisms, and chaos personified -- because that was the voice he'd heard announcing his arrival. "C'mon in, the water's fine!"

He couldn't have stood there poleaxed for long; Miri, who had already been headed in his direction, laid a hand on his shoulder and just so happened to stand in between Treize and anyone who might notice his predicament. 

"Good to see you," Miri offered, and Treize was certain he could see both mirth and commiseration in the younger man's stunning blue eyes. He had at least had the presence of mind to drape his towel over his arm, so maybe nobody had noticed. 

Treize recovered quickly, and smiled in relief and genuine pleasure. "Mirialdo Peacecraft! Hello, everyone! You got so tall!"

Little Relena and his cousin Dorothy had certainly changed a lot, which was vaguely horrifying. His tiny scientist Heero had grown up to be practically a mirror image of his father, wild hair, intimidating scowl, and all. Quatre and Trowa, still obviously close, had their heads together and were muttering to each other much as they had done as youngsters. 

And Wufei...

Wufei...

"Stiff upper lip, old chap," Mirialdo advised, mouth curled up on one side. "I know how you feel. Heero's killing me just a little. You should see him with Wishes."

That was all well and good, but Mirialdo was just over drinking age compared to Heero's eighteen, and Treize was significantly older. He was also sincerely mortified because he had been so grateful not to have that immediate reaction to Chang Wynn, and now he was on the receiving end of a glance over one of Wufei's shoulders that sent his nerve endings up in flames. 

"I'm going to the special hell," he managed to mutter. "Dear god."

Miri patted his shoulder and turned around to watch the others. "It won't matter that much in ten years."

In ten years!? Just thinking it made Treize a little lightheaded. "Hell," he announced again, watching as Wufei snagged a towel and curled onto the same lounge as Heero, and Miri patted him again in commiseration.

~*~*~*~

"Is he watching?" Wufei murmured, voice low. He didn't dare turn around; he was pretty sure his instantaneous reaction to seeing Treize Khushrenada again had been damnably obvious.

"He is," Heero replied, trying not to sound as bitter and jealous as he felt. After all, it wasn't Treize's fault that he was tall and elegant and everything else Heero wasn't. And he could hardly blame Miri for wanting his childhood crush -- he'd been obviously infatuated with the babysitter since long before he'd lost all his baby teeth. 

It was hard not to want to see Treize with Wufei, though, for Wufei's sake as well as his own. And actually, as he stole a second glance in that direction, it was a little encouraging to notice that Treize, while looking a little uncomfortable, was nonetheless still looking in their direction. 

"He's still looking," he told Wufei, and if a pleased little smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, could anyone really blame him? 

Wufei let out an unsteady whoosh of breath, then looked across at Heero. "You're wrong, by the way." In response to Heero's narrowed gaze, he shrugged and settled on his back in the sun, towel draped across his lap for... well, obvious reasons. "Miri isn't interested him him at all." His voice was barely a whisper, definitely hard to hear over the sound of Duo splashing water at Quatre and Trowa. Heero knew that pleased curl of Wufei's lower lip. "I promise. Every time Wishes got near you, he practically had heart eyes."

"He's not with either of us right now," Heero said just as softly, watching as Treize's gaze unerringly drew back to Wufei. There was no doubt about where the former babysitter's interest lay, but that made him feel rather sorry for Miri. "I just want... for him to be happy."

"Mister Treize!" Duo being Duo, he was out of the pool and leaving a wide dripping path behind him. "C'mon, c'mon, everybody's been waiting!" 

"Treize," Dorothy called, hand raised, "do be careful. In case you've forgotten, he's the human equivalent of a Rube Goldberg mousetrap."

"Awww, you say the sweetest things!" Duo's face was bright even as he grabbed Treize's hand and pulled him forward, possibly harder than he'd intended. One ill-timed tug combined with an unfortunate stumble resulted in Treize practically sailing into the deep end of the pool, towel and all. 

It was peaceful under the water, and the shock of the cold did help to calm down his embarrassing problem. He could hear the sounds of his former charges yelling at each other in panic as he slowly surfaced, one unique eyebrow twitching. 

"Duo Maxwell." His voice rang out, cutting off the apologies he knew were coming. "I hope you know this means war."

"Treize!" Ah, that startled him a bit, but there was Wufei, smirking, SuperSoaker in hand. Everyone around him seemed to scramble -- whether to help or get out of the way, who could say? "Catch!"

Catch indeed, and he did, feeling a maniacal grin sneak over his face as he aimed for Duo, who was beaming like a lunatic. This wasn't the way Treize had intended to reintroduce himself to his former charges, but when in Rome...

When in Rome, one waged such a brutal water war that the overgrown children had no choice but to pursue peace! 

It was a scene of utter carnage. Duo took a blast of water in the face from close range and fell over, sputtering, and then the murderous rampage truly began. Treize had the tactical advantage of the pool, which served as both cover and infinite ammunition. He attacked with impunity, dousing every one of the teens as they scrambled for cover. Relena and Dorothy resorted to cowering behind overturned lounge chairs, desperately mopping at their faces as their mascara shuffled off its mortal coil and ran down their cheeks in dark rivulets. Quatre huddled over Trowa, sheltering his gravity-defying hair with his own body. 

Treize was just turning to take aim at Miri and Heero when a bundle of fur landed on him, shoving him toward the bottom of the pool forcibly. 

"Wishes!" Miri cried, horrified, and jumped in after his elderly golden lab with Heero right behind him. It took some doing to get the dog calmed enough to let them help him. By that time, Treize had resurfaced, a little scratched up but otherwise unharmed and able to help them hoist the poor thing out of the water. 

And there was Wufei, soaked and laughing so hard at all of them that Treize honestly though he might hurt himself. God, he'd made such a good decision, coming home for this. He was sure of it right up until Miri and Heero got Wishes out of the pool, anyway, and the dog made himself the uncontested winner of the water war by shaking himself hard, water flying everywhere and soaking everyone even worse, which led to more squealing and laughter.

Then he was absolutely certain.

~*~*~*~

"Here."

Miri smiled up at Heero, taking the ninth towel (because everyone had insisted that it was more important that Wishes be dry than any of them) and ruffling it over fur one more time. "Thanks."

"No problem," Heero replied, with a soft little smile that he quickly turned on Wishes. "We can't have the world's best heroic dog getting a chill, right, Wishes?"

Wishes, for his part, knew that he was the best good dog, but it was always nice to hear it, and he gave Heero a great big doggie smile as Heero knelt next to them to pat him. 

"It'll be your turn at the bathroom once the girls are done," Heero said, glancing sidelong at Miri. Since everyone had donated their towels to help dry Wishes, the downstairs bathroom in the Winner house had been turned into a temporary pool house so the teenagers could change into their dry clothes. 

"You can go first," Miri offered, and Heero wondered if he'd imagined that flick of his eyes, the way he glanced down and then away, cheeks faintly flushed. "I don't mind. Wishes will be glad of your company when you get back, won't you, good boy?" 

The wild wag of that tail said, _Yes yes yes, I am a good boy, I am the best good boy, it is me!_

Heero obligingly ruffled the dog's mostly-dried ears. He bit his lip, and glanced over to Wufei, who was egging him on with a sassy raised eyebrow that clearly wanted to know whether Heero was a man or a mouse. 

There was nothing for it. He drew a deep breath, turned to face Miri directly, and blurted out the three words that had been bottled up for so long. 

"I like you."

The flare of those light blue eyes was unexpected, and so was the way that Miri's smile suddenly broke out bright as sunshine and twice as deadly. "Yeah?" He sounded a little breathless, maybe even giddy.

Heero nodded solemnly, a faint crease between his eyebrows. "A lot," he added, in case he hadn't been clear enough.

"Yeah." Miri's voice was a little dreamy somehow. "Heero?"

"Mm?"

"I'm going to kiss you now."

Heero relaxed finally, and leaned in to close the distance between them. There may have been a loud whooping noise from one of the others, but it barely even registered compared to the feeling of Miri's lips curved in a smile against his own. 

~*~*~*~

From his vantage point indoors near the sliding glass door, Treize witnessed the kiss and smiled softly as Heero rose and headed indoors, looking utterly besotted. Before Heero got close enough to see he'd been observed, Treize turned in time to see Dorothy and Relena leaving the bathroom, makeup repaired and scandalous bathing suits replaced with much more demure shorts and t-shirts. 

"It must be strange, seeing how much they've all changed," Chang Wynn said, stepping close to Treize to load up a plate with some of Dun's barbecue. 

"It is, a bit," Treize admitted. "But I still see the children they were in them."

"Yes," Wynn agreed thoughtfully. "I can still recall the day we brought Wufei home as though it were yesterday."

"He's grown into a fine young man," Treize acknowledged, desperately hoping that just the mention of Wufei's name wouldn't have the dreaded effect...

**_*SPROING!*_ **

...no such luck. 

"We are very proud of him," Wynn replied, with a fond smile for the memory of his son as a baby, mercifully oblivious to Treize's consternation. 

Wynn turned then to give Dun his compliments, and Treize was distracted by the sight of Duo Maxwell heading toward the bathroom (because years of experience had taught him to pay attention when Duo was nearby). Duo got to the bathroom door just as Heero opened it, ready to join the party in simple shorts and a tank top. 

"So, Heero!" Duo exclaimed, just a little too loud and a little too cheerful. "You and Miri? Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Heero said with a tiny smile. 

"Does this mean he's the one who'll wash your underwear?" Duo asked, clearly expecting the sort of furious embarrassment Heero would have exhibited when he'd been younger. 

Heero stepped in close, bent toward Duo, and spoke directly into his ear with a devious little smile. 

"I'm not wearing any," he advised. Treize, who had been sipping a virgin daiquiri, snorted his drink back into its purple plastic margarita glass. Heero sidled on past while Duo stood frozen with a hilarious thunderstruck expression. 

"He's not kidding," Wufei murmured, sliding in beside him and looking up in a way that made Treize's heart flutter just a bit. "Dorothy said something to him about visible panty lines."

He was going to the Special Hell, god help him, but he was also laughing, and it was both strange and familiar to talk and laugh with Wufei. 

"He's dating the cheerleaders? **All** of them?" Mr. Winner's voice rang out over the sound of chatting voices and music, and Treize and Wufei both turned in time to see the man bursting into manly tears of pride. 

It was all too much for Treize, and too perfect at the same time. Misunderstood Miri, Heero the miniature mad scientist, Duo the disaster zone, Twowa and Quatre with the huge eyes and adorable speech impediments, white-obsessed Wufei, and even spoiled-rotten Relena... all of his children, whom he loved so dearly, had grown to be amazing people with such bright futures, people he was proud to know.

It was true, you could never really go home again, because the only true constant was change. If the changes meant getting to see his kids all grown up, though, if it meant having a chance to get to know the man Wufei was growing to be... maybe change wasn't such a bad thing after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> The original stories were written nearly two decades ago, but we always intended to go back and add at least one more when they were "all grown up." Or maybe even two.
> 
> Sorry it took us so long to get here.


End file.
